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Week 113

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Week 115

Every week we will be starting a new Story Telling competition - with great prizes! The current prize is 2000 NP, plus a rare item!!! This is how it works...

We start a story and you have to write the next few paragraphs. We will select the best submissions every day and put it on the site, and then you have to write the next one, all the way until the story finishes. Got it? Well, submit your paragraphs below!

Story One-Hundred and Fourteen Ends February 7th

"Ugh, what a mess..." muttered Samantha the Kyrii
as she pushed on through more of the debris from her once beautiful home.
Shaking her head sadly at the charred rubble, Samantha thought, Those Darigans sure didn't leave much standing
at all. Why did they have to do all this? All this destruction wasn't necessary;
they could have just attacked the castle to get the orb..."Now, all of Meridell is destroyed
EXCEPT the castle!" she ended her thoughts with an enraged shout.

She knew it wasn't over. The Darigan Citadel still hung in the clouds, menacing and
waiting for who knows what. The troops had all returned to the citadel; Meridell's
residents were too scattered and defeated to pose a threat any longer.

"Let that silly goose of a king handle it from here. I have nothing more for them to
take," she continued muttering as she found a hoe in the teetering shack behind the
remnants of her home. Sighing, Samantha went over to tend what was left of her vegetable garden.

She gasped as she turned the corner and spotted none other than a Draconian
Moehog munching on her tomatoes! She screamed in rage and lunged with the hoe at
the equally surprised Moehog. "How DARE you?!? Trying to steal the last of our food,
after taking everything from us!" she screamed in pure rage.

The Draconian Moehog opened its jaws... and let out a terrified "EEK!"
Samantha stopped with hoe in mid-air and looked at the creature. A vicious snarl,
a terrifying roar, or a bone crunching bite she expected... but a timid squeak? She
took a second look at the creature huddling in the corner of the garden fence,
shaking in terror. "Please don't hurt me!" it cried, "I was SO hungry!"

Samantha continued to stare at the Moehog in disbelief. She hadn't even realized
that these terrible creatures could talk at all. They were monsters, right? She
shook the thought from her head, and the fierceness came back into her eyes. "Why should
I leave you be?!? Your kind destroyed our land!"

The little Moehog looked at her pleadingly. "I-I was just doing what they told me
to do! Honestly, I don't like to fight! I hid near the glade when the war broke
out, and now the troops have left me behind!" the creature seemed on the verge of tears.

Sighing, Samantha lowered the hoe. What had she been planning to do? Beat a terrified
Moehog with it? What had this war done to them? There had already been enough violence.
"I, uh, guess if you're THAT hungry, you can have some." The Moehog's eyes lit gratefully.

"Thanks so much!" he said, in a stunningly cheerful and innocent voice. "My name's Charlie,
by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"You can call me Sam, I guess," the Kyrii said, shaking her head in disbelief of the
whole situation...

Author: Aww, isn't Charlie CUTE? ^_^Date: 03 February

...Samantha continued to clean up whatever she could from the rubble and debris of her
former home. Luckily, it still stood (most of it anyways), but it would be awhile
before she could have a good night's sleep or a hot meal. Samantha peered out through
the window and saw Charlie munching away on turnips and potatoes.
She wasn't sure why, but when they began to talk, he DID
seem kind of cute... for a mutated, deformed Moehog, anyway.

Soon, night began to fall on the quiet land of Meridell. Since her bed frame was destroyed,
Samantha had to place her straw mattress on the floor in her room. Covering herself with
a blanket, Sam began to fall asleep. Suddenly, she heard a small rapping
at her window. Going over to the window, Sam opened it and gasped to find Charlie fluttering
outside. "You're still here?" she asked, exasperated.

Charlie did the best he could to perch himself on the windowsill. "Well... I-I was
wondering if maybe... um... c-could I stay here tonight? It's cold outside, and
looks like rain."

Sam couldn't believe this. It was bad enough that he ate from her garden,
but now Charlie wanted to sleep in her HOUSE? "Why don't you go back to Citadel...
WHERE YOU BELONG?"

Charlie looked down at his hooves sadly. "I don't want to go back. I never liked it
there, anyway. I was born after the orb was stolen, so I never knew what it was
like when we had the orb. All I know of that place is that it's dark and creepy and all they do
is make me fight. I don't even have any friends. Then when I saw Meridell, it was
beautiful! Even after the war, it's still much nicer than our land. Please, I promise
that if you let me stay tonight, I won't bother you again."

Sam wasn't going to take another sob story, even though this one was believable.
"I'm sorry, Charlie," she said in a soft, but stern tone. "It's too great a risk
keeping you here. The whole village thinks your kind are monsters. It'd be best if
you left while it was still dark out. Now, good night!"

Just as Sam was about to leave, Charlie let out a small whimper. "All right," he
said sadly. "I'll go. But before I do, here..." He reached behind his wing and
tossed a sparkling trinket over to Sam. Catching it in her hands, she looked down
to see it was a gold heart locket! A very precious memento. "My
locket..." she said softly. "I thought I lost it during the war..."

"I think you did. I found it in the vegetable garden under some pieces of wood,"
said Charlie. "I thought it might've been yours... well, I'd better go. Thanks again
for the food."

Just as Charlie was about to take flight, Sam called out to him. "Wait!" she said.
Charlie looked back with his wings still spread. "Uh... I do have a spare blanket.
It's small and has a few moth holes, but it's still pretty warm."

Charlie's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Sam."

And so, Sam made up a bed for Charlie in the corner of the room. "This is only
for the night," she reminded him. "Tomorrow, you're out of here, got it?"

Charlie nodded. "Got it. Good night."

Sam shook her head wearily as she went back to her mattress. Looking back at Charlie,
he really did seem harmless. Let's just hope he stays that way, she thought...

Author: bitsy_djDate: 03 February

..when morning came, Sam opened her eyes and shielded them from the bright sunlight
which shone through her broken roof.

"Charlie?" she said, "Are you awake?"

But the spare blanket was empty.

"Charlie?" Sam called again, "Where are you?"

She heard snorts and grunts outside. Sighing, she tumbled out of bed, went down the
stairs and entered her garden of rubble.
There was Charlie, heaving wood and rocks off of her crushed plants and vegetables. He put
them all into a pile.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"Oh, just tidying up for you," Charlie replied.

Sam was surprised. "Well, thank you," she said, smiling.

Suddenly, there was an almighty crash. Sam and Charlie screamed, hiding behind the
pile of rubble. They peered out to see what was there.
There was a large group of Draconians, riding on hideous looking Unis.
They had swords in their belts, and their eyes were full of evil and malice.

The leader of the group was in front. "Search all the houses," he commanded, "I don't
want any citizens of Meridell hiding!"

"Quick," Sam hissed to Charlie, "hide in those bushes over there."

Sam ran silently over to the bushes and hid behind them, watching the
Draconians fearfully.

The monsters walked over and began to trash the remainder of Sam's house, in order to
flush anyone out. Charlie quickly ran over.
"No need to continue, sir!" he shouted to the Draconian in charge. "I have already
cleared this area."

The leader eyed Charlie for a moment then said, "Good work trooper," before signaling
to the other Draconians. "Let's check the next house."

The group left, intent on as much destruction as possible. When they had gone, Sam ran out.

"Thanks for trying to save what's left of my house," she said, still a bit frightened.
When Charlie didn't respond, she looked over and noticed he
was staring down at something that had been covered in rubble of the new destruction.

"Hey Sam, I think you had better come and look at this." Charlie said quietly.

The Kyrii walked over and gasped. In the rubble lay a very old, dusty book. She saw
the title was The Secret of the Orb.

Sam picked it up and opened the crinkly, fragile pages. She saw it was like a diary.

"Meridell has stolen the Orb," she read aloud, "The Darigan Citadel has been
plunged into
darkness. Neopets all around me are succumbing to plague and starvation. Hundreds have turned
into hideous monsters. This is what the once beautiful land surrounding Dargian Citadel
has become,
while Meridell lies in peace and luxury. Lord Darigan, my good old friend, has become a
creature of evil. He wants to detroy Meridell for what they have done. Only I know how to
sort this problem out. When I was a child, my father found the statue of a large hand in a
cave, a few miles away from the Darigan Citadel. My father studied it, and found out that if the
orb was placed in the palm of the hand statue, then Meridell and the Darigan Citadel could
share the orb, and both lands would be beautiful. But no one will listen to me. It seems all hope
is lost..."

Sam's eyes widened as she finished. "Charlie!" she cried, "This is it! This is the answer!
If we can get the orb and place it into the palm of the statue, Meridell and the Dargian
Citadel will be saved!"

Charlie nodded hurridely. "We have to get the orb!" he said, "Come on, lets go to the
Dargian Citadel!"

The two Neopets set off for the Darigan Citadel. But in Sam's mind she wondered How on earth
are we going to GET the orb?...

Author: hamster_luva122400Date: 04 February

"Wait," Charlie said.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Well, we can't just waltz in there like this, we have to have a reason for being in
there," Charlie replied. He went back inside the house and came out with the blanket
Sam had given him to sleep under. "This should work out just fine," he said. Quickly
using his tusks, Charlie shredded the blanket

"What are you doing?!" Sam cried.

"Simple. You are going to be my prisoner. THAT will give us a reason to enter the
Citadel!" Charlie answered.
Sam bit her lip. Did she trust him enough to go to the Citadel as his "prisoner" so
they could get the orb?

Charlie saw her hesitate. "Sam," he said, "I'd never give you up; you're the only
friend I've got Trust me, I won't let them get you." he said assuringly.

Sam sighed. "I guess I can trust you; after all, you did save me back there," she said.
"Just don't tie me up too tight, okay?"

"Right," Charlie nodded, "After we get past the guards, I'll untie you and we can find
the orb."

When they finally arrived near the Citadel, Charlie tied Sam's wrists and, grabbing the back
collar of her shirt in his teeth, began to beat his wings. Slowly but surely, they rose up
to meet the citadel. Getting past the front gate guards was simple, but the inner gates that
led into Darigan's keep would be much more difficult.

"What business do you have here?" the guard demanded, stopping the two from entering.

Charlie tried to think of what someone like those Draconians that attacked Sam's house would
say. They certainly seemed confident. Charlie looked the guard in the eye and said...

Author: littlekittyfeetDate: 04 February

..."Stand aside! Or would you rather that I let her loose? This prisoner is a maniac!" Charlie said,
glaring at them. "Would you like to see if I'm telling the truth?" he stated confidently. Charlie nudged
Sam a bit, and she caught on to it.

"AHAHAHAHA!" she laughed madly, trying hard to look as insane as possible. "My o'
my, what fine dinners you would make, plump and juicy," she saw the guards shiver
slightly, "Mmm, yes! Most certainly..." Sam trailed off until she was whispering to the
guards, "You know what?" she signaled for them to come closer, "I wanna tell ya
somethin'. Commere.." she looked around secretly, "I am..." she paused, "INSANE!! HAHAHA!"
Sam cackled and rolled her eyes madly as the guards jumped back.

Sam lunged for the guards, but Charlie pulled her back, "Lord Darigan wants to see her
right away. She might be of use!" Charlie stated. The guards nodded dumbly and let them pass.

Charlie and Sam went down a narrow hallway then, making sure no one was around, they
both burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, did ya see their faces? I thought they were gonna run away!" Sam laughed
gleefully.

Charlie chuckled, "You almost had me convinced! I don't think those two were prepared for
such a thing! Hehe! Come on, let's find that orb."

Charlie used his tusks to cut Sam free of the bonds, and the two friends
slipped quietly down the twisting and dark hallways...

Author: lynzi220Date: 05 February

...Soon, a large door came into view.

"Is that Darigan's chamber?" asked Sam.

"Yep, and the orb most certainly would be in there," said Charlie. They walked closer.

"Aye, that is no Draconian!" a voice shouted. "Why, that looks like a citizen of Meridell! Why isn't
she tied up?" asked the guard, coming out of the room. This thought hadn't entered either Sam's nor Charlie's
minds. Her bonds were already cut! The guard would undoubtedly be suspicious as to why a
citizen of Meridell would be walking freely through the citadel.

"Uh... she's... uh..." stammered Charlie.

"Well, why is she in here? I'll be getting our lord," roared the guard.

"You can't!" exclaimed Charlie.

"Why not?"

"You can't get Darigan if... you're unconscious!" With that, Charlie charged and head-butted
the Scorchio's stomach. The guard groaned and fell like a ton of bricks.

They went through the door and came into a large room. Sitting in the middle was
none other than the very orb they sought. It was an extremely pale shade of blue,
but the orb glowed like a star.

"So this is it. It's beautiful," Sam said in awe as they approached it.

"Hurry, we don't have much time!" exclaimed Charlie. Sam ran over and picked up the
glowing orb from its stand.

"We got it!" exclaimed Sam.

"Great, come on! We've got to get out of this citadel, or we'll be in
more trouble than you could imagine..."

Author: too_kuleDate: 05 February

..."What do you think you're doing?" roared a voice. Sam and Charlie stopped dead
in their tracks and turned around, only to come face-to-face with none other than
Lord Darigan himself.

Sam gasped, her legs like jelly beneath her body. She looked Darigan up and down,
wondering what the punishment was for being in Darigan's chamber without a summon.
She felt faint at the thought, but stayed strong and stood up straight, thinking
just try to look like you're not scared...

Darigan interrupted her thoughts with an evil laughter. "AHAHAHA! Fools, thinking
you could get away with the orb so easily! You were wrong. Nobody steals from ME and
gets away with it. Never!" he burst out laughing evilly.

Charlie shuddered. "Scared, are you?" asked Darigan, acting concerned. "Well, you
should be!" he hollered. "I'M the ruler now! Nobody but me! Someday, I will rule
ALL of Neopia. Everyone will respect me. Now, if you would just give me that orb, nobody
gets hurt. Who knows? Maybe I'll even give you a good position in my kingdom."

"You filthy rat!" screamed Sam, recovering from her shock and horror. "To think that
we would just give it to you without thinking. We could live in peace. All we need
to do is..."

Darigan cut her off. "I do not compromise with my subjects! Now GIVE me that orb, or
I'll have to take it from you." He started walking towards Sam, arms outstretched
greedily.

She hugged the orb to herself and shouted, "NO!"

Charlie didn't know what else to do, so decided that he would just use his head,
ramming headlong into Darigan. Yelling
with pain, Darigan fell to the ground. Some guards heard him and rushed into the room.
Charlie gave a quick glance toward Sam. "Run Sam!" he yelled, and they began running as
fast as they could, with the guards right behind them...

Author: tolkienlordoftheringDate: 06 February

...As they rounded a corner, Charlie and Sam ran headlong into another group of guards--
*CRASH*!!!
Bodies went rolling everywhere. Sam tucked her body around the orb and held on
tightly, until she came to rest, bumping up against the far wall of the corridor.
Charlie was against the other wall, and the guards were tangled in a huge
pile in the middle. They could hear more guards approaching at a rapid pace.

"Sam, are you alright?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, are you?" she replied.

"I think so; we'd better get out of here! There's a gap over here, between them and
the wall... how about on your side?" Charlie asked.

"Yes Charlie, there's one here, too. See you on the other side!" Sam replied.

The two friends got up and bounded away, moving swiftly around the pile of guards
in the middle of
the hall, not a moment too soon. *CRASH* *BANG* The guards that had been chasing
them collided with the pile on the floor.

Sam and Charlie giggled as they ran, picturing a pile of Darigan's guards heaped to the
ceiling and tangled together by swords, shields and other necessities of warfare.
Their giggling soon stopped, however, as they heard Darigan bellow:

"You bunch of buffoons! Get up and stop them!!! They have the orb! I think I'm
starting to develop a taste for barbecued Scorchio!"

Sam and Charlie put of all their energy into escaping from the castle, and burst down the
remaining halls to the gate--the exit, their freedom, and hopefully, a peaceful life
for both cities...

Author: littlekittyfeetDate: 06 February

...Grabbing Sam's shirt, Charlie launched himself off a pillar that had fallen
from the rest of the citadel long ago; beating his wings, Charlie
carried Sam back toward Meridell.
When they had landed back at Sam's house, she grabbed the book and read on:

"From here on out, this is the account of my father and the finding of the hand: 'I
found the cave while traveling with my friend from Meridell, who had long been my companion before the orb was stolen. We were on our way to
a distant village, when we came to a large mountain known as Tunnel Mt. We were carefully
climbing up to the top, where we could camp safely, when we stopped to
rest by a mountain spring and have a bite to eat.

I rested with my back to a
large rock, unpacked the food, and was starting to eat when my friend sat down next
to me and also leaned against the rock. A large shudder suddenly ran
through the boulder as it opened before us...

Sam stopped reading. The Darigan guards who had been chasing them before flew
into sight, and were soon going to be upon them. Thinking quickly, Sam told
Charlie to pick her up and fly to Tunnel Mt. where they could lose them in
the caves. Not stopping to argue, Charlie grabbed Sam yet again, and set off
at a lope that he used to pull himself into a darting flight.
Charlie had never flown so fast in his life. Darting and swerving, he tried to
get the guards off his tail with no success. Finally, they reached Tunnel Mt.
and ducked into the first hole they saw. Charlie collapsed onto the ground,
exhausted.

"Charlie, get up," Sam cried, "they're still on our tail!" but
Charlie had passed out from using up so much energy at once. Sam grabbed Charlie
and dragged him deeper into the tunnel, where the guards couldn't see them.
After a long time Charlie finally woke up, coated in sweat. Sam instantly ran
to his side, but stopped herself and said calmly, "Oh good, you're awake!" Charlie
smiled and stood up. Sam could hold herself back no longer; she leaped upon him
and hugged him till he begged her to get off. "I thought you would never wake
up!" Sam cried as Charlie gently patted her back.

"Yeah, I'm okay but what about the orb, and bringing peace to the land?" he
reminded her.

"OH!" she suddenly stood up and grabbed the book, "I almost forgot!" She
opened up the book and found her place:

Being extremely excited, we bounded through the open rock and into the chamber.
That's where I saw the hand... upon looking closer, I noticed that a legend
about the hand was written around its base. We quickly deciphered the legend,
and learned of the hand's powers. It seems that, only when two companions from
Meridell and Darigan unite to touch the rock, it opens to reveal the hand. I am
far too old to go on such
a quest to capture the orb and undo this evil, but young
ones who may find and read my tale, please set forth and bring peace to the land!"

"Yeah, lets go!" replied Sam, getting up also, and together they ran from the tunnel
into the open air.

Carefully searching through the underbrush, Charlie finally found the spring.
Looking around, he called to Sam. She came running with the forces or Darigan
behind her; "They haven't left yet!" she called. Charlie stood his ground as
Sam ran past him, and at the last moment he jumped out of the way. The guards
kept on running, right into the pool.

Taking their chance, Sam and Charlie jumped in front of them and placed their hands
upon the boulder. The rock split open, and they ran inside, leaving the baffled
troops lying in the spring.
Sam passed the orb to Charlie, who jumped onto the hand and dropped it into the palm,
just as the guards regained themselves and began charging into the chamber.

Instantly, the orb melted into a river of silver liquid. The liquid covered
everything; the whole group ran outside, sparkling with the silver liquid
too, to watch as it covered everything. The liquid spread everywhere, like a
sparkling hand reaching out over the world, it soon reached the two cities
covered them both as well. Darigan began to lower to the ground as
Meridell began to rebuild itself; villagers came out of their newly built
homes and looked around in wonderment. The mutant city began to reform and
become a sparkling cathedral. Mutant pets reformed back into their former,
normal selves, while the Darigan creatures around them began to cry with happiness
as they watched their homes being restored, while they themselves turned back
to normal. Sam turned to Charlie, but it was not the Charlie she knew...

"I can't believe it! I'm a regular Moehog!" exclaimed Charlie. Sam nodded tearfully
and hugged her friend. Sam and Charlie left the cave and looked at what they had done.
The sky was sparkling as the two worlds became one.

They squinted their eyes and saw a figure come out of the citadel of evil--well,
now the citadel of Meridell. A furry white figure stood. It was none other than Darigan,
just unmutated.

"Lord Darigan... you're normal!" exclaimed Charlie and Sam as they ran forward, knowing
that they no longer needed to be afraid

"Yes... did you do this?" he asked. Sam and Charlie nodded. "My deepest apologies for
sending my guards after you. If I had known you were trying to save our fair land,
I wouldn't have tried to stop you. Madness was overtaking me, but now everything is clear again."

But this was not all the day had in store. Later on that day, a special ceremony for
Sam and Charlie was held. A joyful King Skarl, and a smiling Lord Darigan, awarded medals
to the two saviors of their homelands.

"I hereby pronounce you Lady Samantha and Sir Charles, the saviors of Meridell and
Darigan!" cried King Skarl to the two Neopets. The hundreds of Neopets in the watching
crowd erupted with cheers. Sam placed a small kiss on her friend Charlie's cheek. This
truly was a joyful day.

The End

Editor's note: This story in no way reflects the events that have/will occur in Meridell,
and is simply a work of fiction.

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